Meanwhile, on the other side of the Internet…

I should probably make an announcement when I begin a hiatus, instead of when I end one, but I’m back! Honestly, though, my absences are not out of a desire to quit, but an inability to continue. A lot has happened in the past few months. I’ll try to fill you in.

I mentioned just a little of the events of last year. I was being harassed by a neighbor, who would scream homophobic slurs and tell me I had to move every time he saw me. It wasn’t the best living situation as it was, but this man was a nightmare. He would come up to the outside of the house, and pound on my bedroom wall in the middle of the night, so hard that things would fall off my shelves and pictures would fall off the walls. I called the police on him multiple times, resulting in his arrest once, and taking him to court twice to get a restraining order. This started around May of 2015 and continued until February 2016, when I was able to move a good distance away. I feel MUCH safer now, and feel that my animals are also much safer.

Another thing that happened during that time is I discovered that a person I respected was actually an animal hoarder. Specifically cats. This person bred beautiful purebred cats, but did not adequately look out for their health and well-being, and did not adequately clean up after them. At times, the state of this person’s house would make you gag. Bags of dirty cat litter lined the hallways at times, as well as feces and urine all over the house. Dealing with this situation was highly stressful and resulted, naturally, in the loss of what I had considered a great friendship.

As much as the terrible conditions were revolting and heartbreaking, causing the deaths of animals due to negligence and carelessness is an absolute deal breaker for me. What I saw in that house broke me, and it’s taken me months to be able to talk about it here.

Several other dramatic events have happened, a couple leading to hospital visits and other eventful days. I might get into those more later. Suffice it to say, this has been a crazy year, and I’m glad things are finally calming down!

In February, I moved into a great house with a large backyard. I spent most of the spring and summer digging new gardens, eradicating blackberry bushes (not all of them though– fresh blackberries are delicious!), and planting a vegetable garden and a butterfly, bee, and hummingbird garden. The yard also attrated a lot of dragonfly visitors, probably coming from the pond down the street. I fenced in the yard so the dogs can run and play, and started building a greenhouse, which is an ongoing project. Quincy and Bentley both enjoy being able to run and play off leash.

One of the adorable surprises of the fenced yard is how much Eden enjoys it as well. Since she can’t jump over the fence, I took Eden out with us one day to see how she liked it. From that moment on, she’s been lining up at the door with the dogs when it’s time to go out, although she’s opted out for the wet weather.

Since August 2015, Quincy’s health maintained very well until the past month or so. Over the summer, he was able to go off all medication. His fur grew back from the skin infections. He’s been doing very well. A few weeks ago he had a bit of a relapse, but I got him to the vet quickly, and he’s doing very well. He’s back on medication. He doesn’t like the prescription kibble at all, so he’s back on chicken and rice in an attempt to put some weight on him. He’s really skinny due to his relapse. The home cooked meals have drastically improved his appetite and he appears to be putting the weight back on. He made it to his 13th birthday, which was last Thursday! He’s still the sweetest dog ever.

Bentley is just as nuts as ever. He’s hyper and enjoying racing around the big yard and the house. He gets zoomies in the living room all the time. We haven’t done agility in quite a while. Partially due to him being reactive around other dogs. Partially because I’m lazy. And partially because the vet found an issue with his knees that doesn’t bother him now, but the extra strain of agility could make it worse. It’s pretty hard to convince him to take it easy though, and he has energy to spare.

Reilly and Eden have become pretty good friends, as far as cats go anyhow. They play together, although it’s still a delicate relationship still. The more time they spend together, they better they get along. I’m hoping they’ll eventually get along well enough to cuddle. Nothing cuter than kitties cuddling.

Unless it’s the newest addition to my critter family! Charlotte joined the crew today. She’s just a few weeks old Abyssinian guinea pig. I’ll find her a little sister soon so she’ll have company. In the meantime, she’s settling in and getting to know her new home. The dogs have been very interested in her, particularly Bentley, but I’m keeping her at a safe distance. He doesn’t appear to want to harm her, but I’m not yet sure he understands that she’s not a snack. In the spring, I’ll build her an outside run to get some fresh air on warm days.

Overall, we’re definitely doing better than a year ago. We’re looking forward to the next year too!